12/17/21

A Fairly Productive Year

The last month or so has been mostly quiet, getting ready for the holidays, finishing the limited shopping I needed to do, and thinking about goals for next year.
A couple of weeks ago I remixing another 13 Finches song, Chance At Life*. I think it turned out quite nice, and I sure hope Tal and Shannon enjoyed it. Was fun to revisit those songs/sessions and come at them with a different perspective, I’ve certainly learned a lot from it.
That exercise lead me to tackling a few of the Team Cluster songs, as I have all the source materials, why not? I started with the last song on the record, Ending*. It is a quiet and delicate piece (until the end), and it allowed me to really dig into effects and automation. I had a great time with it, and I think it sounds pretty cool. Again, was fun to revisit these songs and see if I could get them closer to what I had originally envisioned.
*neither song is mastered, just raw mixes, be kind

Tim Bethune is moving forward with a new project, some originals he wants to get recorded by Spring. He’s asked that I co-produce, and perhaps mix. Looking forward to where that may go.
The stoner rock project with Keith from Arctic Sleep is ramping up. He demoed out a couple of the ideas I had sent, and they totally rock, hoping to see that in full swing by early 2022.

Don Gunn shared the masters from the Drew Love record, sounds fantastic. Don’s production, arrangements, and mixes are all top notch, he took some good songs and made them great. Justin Perkins at Mystery Room did the mastering, and it is very impressive. I know I am on 4 songs, there are another two that sound like my lines, but played better than I remember playing them, so might have been someone else. This record took a long time to see completion, and it well beat my (already high) expectations.

10/27/21

Tidying Up.

Made some changes to the layout on the site. Broke the Home page out by year, and tried to make it easier to navigate. I also changed the layout of the Music page and hosted one song per record, no longer relying on the Soundcloud player. Speaking of, Soundcloud pulled all the Delstroyers songs I posted, UMG tagged them as unauthorized, go figure. They make it way too complicated to fix, and it’s much too minor an issue to worry about.

The Sting cover I helped Scott Taylor and his friends with is finished. I’m pretty sure Paul (the singer) mixed it, and Steve (the guitar player) made a lovely video to go with it. I think it’s all drone footage he captured in the Sierra Nevada’s. Fall in that part of the country is beautiful.

Had a minor hand surgery, removed a cyst at the base of my left ring finger. Seems to have gone as planned, but took longer to heal than I expected. Three weeks off playing didn’t seem like a long time until I picked up my bass, Ooo-eee, rusty doesn’t begin to cover it. Off to the shed

End Of Summer Is Always Busy

Like every other year, late summer always has some big project or transition. This year it was a bathroom renovation. Turned out nice, and was well worth the money. Kind of a stressful ordeal, but glad I had it done.
Another fun project I was part of is near the finish line. This was again with Scott Taylor, helping his neighbor on a Sting cover. I have said it before (more than once I am sure), I really enjoy working with Taylor. His drum parts are always well-thought-out, intricate, and aggressive; this one was no exception. The singer, Paul, and guitarist, Steve, are the same people from the Van Halen and Rush tributes I helped with earlier in the year. These one-off remote projects are interesting, and communication is always the biggest hitch. I do find it very insightful to hear where players take things when working in a vacuum, it’s amazing how differently we all hear/envision things.

Tim Bethune, the guitar player I worked with on the 13 Finches record, is putting some songs together, and I’m fortunate enough to be involved. We both had a role in the arrangements and production of the 13 F songs, so we know what to expect from each other. These songs are outside of the normal styles I work with, but are very interesting and have tons of character. Looking forward to hearing where they go.

Don Gunn recently sent over some premix roughs of the Drew Love sessions I did with him back in mid 2019. They are going to sound great. He brought in some excellent local talent to shore everything up, and that took it to a whole new level. My bass parts made the final cut on a couple of the songs (yay!), excited to hear them finished.

I also finished a couple more remixes of the aforementioned 13 Finches. Each one has been better than the last, but I am starting to get some consistency. It’s been a lot of fun, very challenging, and I am making some real progress with my mixing skills (again, yay!).

7/23/21

Revisiting, Learning

I have decided to really try and get my mixing skills better situated. It’s one of the things I’ve never really felt confident in, so I tend to shy away from it. Tracking, Editing, and Producing are comfort zones for me, and I love doing them, no issues there, so it’s time to confront my white whale.
Made sense to use well recorded source material, and since I had it on hand, I pulled up some of the 13 Finches sessions. We had really nice tracking sessions at Studio Divine, Studio Litho, and Crackle & Pop!, (with solid engineers in Mike Bromann and Johnny Sangster), and came away with well recorded performances. I dug around the Pro Tools sessions, did some light editing, recomped a vocal line or two, and exported AAF out and imported into LUNA. I like the way LUNA works for mixing, but for editing, it’s no where near as easy/intuitive for me as PT is.
I’ve always felt my past mixes ended up dry, two dimensional, and lifeless, they lacked excitement. I would also trip myself up on tiny details, and in the process, miss the forest for the trees. I figured hitting these issues head on was a great place to start; try to incorporate more space and depth, reinforce the energy parts were tracked with, and not be afraid to move quickly. I finally found myself saying “that sounds fine for now” and moving on (this alone was a triumph).
I’m lucky to know, be friends with, and to have worked for (and with), quite a few really good mix engineers. It’s nice to be able to ask direct question and get advice when running into something that is not working for me. The guitar player on these sessions, Tim Bethune, is a friend, and is not shy about giving me his opinion about what he is hearing, I really appreciate that. I also received some very positive feedback from Tal & Shannon, which, at the end of the day, is what I am shooting for.
I am three songs in now, and each one has turned out better than the last. Being able to really hear the progress, and identify areas that need improvement, is really encouraging. Downside is, after finishing the 3rd song and revisiting the 1st, that 1st one sounds pretty weak and shabby. I’m hoping that after a few more I’ll start finding some consistency, and who knows, I may turn right back around and tackle the 13 Finches record as a whole. Wish me luck!

Some Fun Things Happening

Recently had the opportunity to help my old friend John Yanes with a few of his songs. He had asked if I could give him some arrangement ideas and general input on 3 that were partial to almost complete. I am always glad to help, John writes really nice songs, and I have always loved his voice and how he uses it. We enlisted Scott Taylor to flesh out the drum parts and provide each a proper feel. He gave us some solid parts that John can cut and paste, allowing him to to experiment with arrangements and devise new sections. This method appealed to John, so I did the same with some simple bass lines, worked out very well.
Will be exciting to see where he takes these songs, I look forward to hearing them.

A few weeks back I was working on some esoteric pentatonic scales and stumbled on a riff, it was totally Stoner Rock. I jammed on it and came up with a couple adjacent parts, jotted it down, and thought “I should hit up KD from Arctic Sleep with that”. I went back to practicing and eventually forgot about it. Last week KD texted me and said “I’ve got a big backlog of projects, but I think we should do a Stoner Rock record”; how fortuitous is that?
I told him about my riff, laughed about the coincidence, and sent it off to him. A few days later he returned a completed song minus vocals, and just like that, off we go! This is going to be epic.

I got the appropriate pickguard for the new bass, replaced the strap buttons, and put a tug bar on it, now it is completely back to stock. Strung it up with some DR Nickel Lo-Riders, gave it a modest set up (it took a set up very well) and I couldn’t be happier. Plays great, sounds great, and fills a gap in my current bass line up.

Last week was Thelma’s 2nd birthday. She’s a beautiful (and odd) cat, glad she’s here.

5/26/21

Slowly Easing Into It.

This last month has been nice and quite, not a lot going on, and that’s ok.
I’ve received both of my shots, and as of tomorrow I am considered fully compliant. It’s a relief in many ways, I look forward to getting back to some normal(ish) activities. I’m really wanting to just go play; jam out with some of my music buddies, make some loud noise, and interact in the moment, feels like it’s been forever.

Couple cool things that did happen; I bought a new P Bass and Frost* released a new record.

New P Bass is a 2005 AVRI ‘57, black nitro finish with maple neck/fingerboard. I’ve been wanting a 4 string with a maple board, something to put round-wounds on, bold, bright, and aggressive, this should do the trick! The person I bought it from had replaced the original pickguard, so I ordered a gold anodized aluminium one, a direct replacement for what it would have come with. Who knows, I may even get a mint green one, match it with my other fretted Fenders. I’m also thinking about putting some overwound Lollar’s in it, why not?
It’s fun to play, light weight, and gives me a nice compliment to Red bass.

The new Frost* record is really nice. I am a big fan, and this record hits the mark for me. It has everything I like about them, leaning toward the excess of progressive rock, while retaining accessibility, with exciting and interesting production. There aren’t any grandiose solos or overly pretentious bloat, just well written and fully realized songs, executed at a high level. The drumming alone is worth the price of admission. I dig it.

Getting Back In (Playing) Shape

Got a text from Don Gunn: “how you feeling about your fretless playing these days”, that can only mean one thing.
He had reworked one of Drew Love's songs, and it was calling for some sparse, lyrical fretless. I’ve been away from the fretless for awhile and my chops have suffered. There’s only one way I know of to get myself comfortable and confident with it, and that’s putting in the time, playing it exclusively; there really aren’t any shortcuts. Luckily I had better than a week before the session.
I recently upped my practice routine, adding more structure, and spending more dedicated time with it each day. This new routine was certainly a challenge for the first two “fretless only” days, my intonation was horrendous; it’s not like riding a bike. By midweek it started coming back, and on day six I was fairly comfortable again.
The song was familiar to me, I had recorded bass on an earlier incarnation of it a couple years ago. Don’s reworking of the song made my old charts mostly useless, and probably for the better, it needed a new approach. I came up with some ideas, paraphrased some of the vocal lines, got it all under my fingers, and headed out to The Office (Don’s studio).
We made quick work of it, 2 hrs from enter to exit, and a lot of that time was spent shooting the shit about other projects. I had a pretty good understanding of what he wanted, having some familiarity with a producer is never a bad thing. It was a lot of fun, Don is great to work with, and I felt good about my lines and the performance.
Recording chain: 1975 Fretless Precision, strung with TI Flats, DI’ed into an Electric and Company EC3. (The EC3 sounded amazing)
~I tend to lean a lot more toward Andy Metcalfe or Paul Webb than I do Pino when it comes to fretless (and I’m good with that).

Learning that Rush song verbatim re-inspired me at a base level (pun intended?). I was able to see it in a different light, better understand the function of the parts, the choices made, and the “why” it sounds right to me.
(I posted the tracking session, just bass and drums, totally raw, but a fun listen)
The last few years of study have paid off in some interesting ways, this being one of them. I guess like anything you are learning, it might not always be clear what certain lessons are for, only later to have them become very apparent. I am lucky to have an excellent instructor in Steve Kim. Pieces have really started falling in place over the last year, and it has only added to my curiosity.

4/13/21 Update:
Looks like Steve finished the video for the Rush song, here is a link to his YouTube page Geetar Steve

3/8/21

A Little Spring In My Step

The Van Halen tribute song that Scott Taylor and his buddies invited me to play on became a video. It was fun. I had never heard it before, a Sammy era song with a fast and relentless bass line, all hail Michael Anthony! Taylor’s friend/ex-bandmate Steve played all the guitars, mixed it, and put the video together, his neighbor, Paul, did the vocals, and of course, Taylor on the kit. They all totally nailed it! Here is a link to the video on Steve’s YouTube page.
Recording chain: 2013 AVRI ‘63 Precision, strung with TI flats, DI’d into a UA Apollo, using Unison with the Brainworx Ampeg SVT-VR plugin

I finished tracking my parts for the Rush song that they wanted to tackle, it was a wake-up call. I had forgotten just how nuanced Geddy’s playing can be. I dove in and tried my best to capture a bit of the swagger, that sense of reckless abandon he so often exhibits. Lucky for me, Taylor’s drum tracks were perfectly on point. Wasn’t the easiest song I’ve played, but it was really fun, and I got a lot out of it.
This whole exercise rekindled my love of those mid/late 70’ and early 80’s Rush records. It reminded me to loosen up a bit and have more fun when I’m playing. Thanks again, Geddy!
Recording chain: 1976 Rickenbacker 4001, strung with Rotosound Swing Bass 66’s, DI’d into a UA Apollo, using Unison with the Brainworx Ampeg SVT-VR plugin.
~The Rickenbacker fought it’s way through tracking with the help of some gaffers tape and a little luck. Afterwards it did in fact go off to Mike Lull’s for a proper setup and repair. It’s back at home now and playing better than it has in many years.

My friend Mundo, who I posted about back in December, just started a TrueFire page. This will be a great resource for players at any level. I may be biased, but I know how diverse his skill set is, and his level of proficiency. Mundo has a relaxed, fun, and easy to understand way of conveying the knowledge he has spent years acquiring. Trust me, check it out!
I was not previously aware of TrueFire, so I created a free account and browsed around. Tons of great players teaching there, loads of great resources, and they appear to be reasonably priced, considering what’s on offer. I’m going to sign up for a course or two!

2/4/21

Taking Me Back

This rugged old beast was just brought out of retirement. It was my first real bass, a 76’ 4001 that I bought the first week of 1981. It’s been mostly in the case, semi-retired, for the last 10 or so years, not really sure why, just felt the right thing to do. We’ve both seen better days, but the many scars are worn with pride (well, at least most of them).
I have no idea how many shows we have done together, nor just how many bands and great jam sessions we were involved with, but it’s safe to say “Lots”.

My dear friend and drummer, Scott Taylor, recently had me join in on a Van Halen tribute he and his friends were putting together, and it was loads of fun. When we finished, he said, I think I should pay tribute to Neil, I thought it was a good idea, and said “I’m in, as long as you choose a song I can actually play and do justice to”. 

~When we met in high school, Rush was common ground, a shared love.
I imagine I’ve mentioned it before, Geddy was the reason I took playing bass seriously, he was then, as now, my hero and greatest inspiration. I don't believe I play or sound anything like him, but he certainly shaped the way I hear parts and approach songs~

Taylor thought Red Barchetta would be a fine song to tackle, I agreed, so we started studying our parts. I got all kinds of nerdy and dove down the rabbithole, should I do the end section like the 97’ Test For Echo live recordings, what about a newer version like R40, or go ESL traditional…? Will be interesting to hear how this turns out.
Seemed like the best (only?) approach to this was to break out the Rick, string it up with some Rotos (haven't done that in 30 years) and wildly overdrive the signal.
Man, this is taking me back, and I am having a blast!

2/5/21 Update:
While changing strings, the nut popped clean off, Dang :(
Time to go see the crew at Mike Lull’s for a much needed and long overdue full service (and potential complete rehabilitation/restoration)